Snow Bound

41

"Whitney?" John asks coming into their room. He finds Whitney standing by the window crying. He goes over to her and enfolds her into his arms. "You aren't at fault for losing our baby. Your body was starved because of that bastard father of mine. If any one is to blame it's him. It's his fault your body wasn't up to the stress of being pregnant, not yours."

"I know that it's stupid to feel guilty like this, but it's my body that failed in it's primary job. That's what women are created for, to carry the future inside them. I know that there are many females that will take offense at this, but it's true. We are able to do many things, but we were created to carry our young. I failed at the most basic of duties for a female."

"Not all females should have children. Many don't want them. You are neither of these kind of females. You will have children, we can try again if you are ready to do so? You are much healthier than you were a couple of months ago. You are at a healthy weight, you are strong and have fewer nightmares from the time of your captivity. I think you are much more likely to carry a child to term this time."

Whitney looks at him through tear clouded eyes, "You really mean that?"

John smiles softly at her. He loves her more than anything. "I really mean that. You just tell me when you are ready to try again and we will." John says using his thumb to wipe away her tears.

Whitney smiles once more and the tears start to dry up again. "I love you, John." She says then holds him to her tight. "I have something very special planned for our date tomorrow, but maybe-" John interrupts her.

He looks at her more than a little guiltily. "I have to break our date for tomorrow. There is something I have to take care of for Michael that I can't get out of."

"What?" Whitney says beyond shocked. She doesn't know all that goes on, but she knows enough that there aren't any major problems at this time. She can't believe what she's hearing.

"I'm sorry, it just came up. I'll make it up to you the next night. I'll plan something extra special for you."

"But-" Whitney says still shocked.

"I can't get out of it, Whitney." John says more than a little bitterly.

"I see." Whitney says pushing back from John.

"Whitney?"

Whitney moves out of the room and disappears before John can get out of the room. Shit, if she is acting like this now, what will she be like if she finds out the truth? John thinks as he looks around more than a little wildly.

Whitney has learned to move almost as silently as a wraith. It isn't until he hears a car start up outside that he figures that she has actually left.

"Whitney!" John yells at the retreating end of the car as she races out of the drive away from the house.

"John?" Michael says coming up to him.

"I told Whitney that I have to break our date. You were right, she had something special planned. She didn't take it to well. She raced out of our room and took off."

"I told you to talk to her, when she finds out why you broke the date she'll be more than just angry, she'll be hurt. You'll lose her John. Breaking her trust like this she'll leave us both and turn her back on us forever. If not telling her is worth that, then don't tell her, but don't be surprised when she packs her things and leaves."

For the first time John thinks that maybe Michael might be right. He's had to break dates for work before and Whitney has never acted like this before.

"I wonder why this date was so important?" John says absently.

"Didn't she tell you anything?" Michael demands worried.

"I didn't let her say anything. All she said was, I see. Then she left me in the room and raced out to her car and took off."

Michael shakes his head sadly. "You are in deepshit with this one, John. Talk to her when she comes home. Tell her everything and you might still be able to salvage things with her. If you don't, don't expect to stay with her for long." Michael tells him before once more entering the building.

"What's going on?" Carmen asks as Michael comes back in.

"John told Whitney that he has to break their date for tomorrow night."

"He better have a damn good reason to do that. Whitney has been planning this incredible date to make it super special. She's worked hard on it to make it...if he doesn't have a good reason she just might leave him."

"He has to do something for me." Michael says in the overbearing silence that falls at her words.

"You couldn't pick some other night? Seriously? Is it, whatever it is, worth hurting Whitney like it will?"

"It has to be tomorrow. The situation came up, we tried to change the day but the other person demanded that date along with other things." Michael barely is able to stop himself from telling Carmen things he promised John he wouldn't tell her.

Carmen looks at him hard. "It better be worth hurting Whitney. It better be worth making her cry and stress. You both don't know just how badly this will affect her and the potential fall out. I hope that your business will give you the comfort you will need if things go badly because I won't be here and neither will Whitney. I can't speak for Kiara, but I know Whitney will leave and I'll go with her, because you are holding back information. Some how this will affect me as well although you didn't say that you are breaking our date." Carmen tells him then takes Kiara's arm and they leave.

"What do you think is the reason for the last minute date break?" Kiara asks as they climb to their room.

"I don't know, but I have this nasty feeling that shit is going to hit the fan tomorrow and no one will be happy once it stops falling." Carmen says indeed she covers her stomach with her hands and does some deep breaths hoping to calm her stomach down.

"I don't want to stay here if you both leave," Kiara says in a weak voice.

Carmen laughs bitterly, "I don't have any where else to go. I'll have to stay here even if Whitney leaves."

One of the things Michael made very clear, neither of them would be working as long as they are pregnant. He doesn't want any possibility of them losing the children because they get too stressed from working.

Carmen thinks bitterly that she might just be on house arrest for the next nine months since she has no money and nowhere to go.

Tomorrow will either see hers and Michael's relationship fixed or it will see it ended. She can't and won't accept his current life style now. She's more than a little sure that it will be ending. She will just have to tolerate living here while pregnant. The thought of leaving her babies isn't a happy one, but she also can't stay with some one that doesn't value her.

She's had enough belittling in her life. She needs to be loved and accepted for who she is. If Michael can't give her the respect she deserves then it will be time to leave and start over.

She goes to her bed and falls down crying.

Kiara does her best to calm her down by patting her back, but soon finds her own eyes flooded with tears. She feels deeply for both her friends. There is nothing she can do for either of them. She has no money and only the things that were bought by her brother and his friends. Michael and John allowed her to go back and pack her things, but that's all she has.

She has no money, no job and other than here, no home. She isn't invested in either male but she too wants to cry.